Tips and Tricks to Save Gas This Summer
Besides tuition and housing, gas may be one of the biggest expenditures that you will have to face while attending college, especially if you live a long distance from your school. And with the rising cost of fuel this summer, its always a good idea to adopt new ways to conserve gasoline. Here are some great tips and tricks to help save gas money this summer.
Car maintenance is the easiest way to save yourself gas money. Keep your tires inflated properly. Underinflated tires waste fuel and can wear out the tire treads. Get regular tuneups from your mechanic and follow through with routine maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations. Also check your air filter at every oil change as clogged filters cause engines to work overtime which requires more fuel.
Don’t use your car as a closet. If you like to store your golf clubs in your trunk you should know that a weighed-down car uses more fuel. Your car can lose up to one mile per gallon in fuel economy for every 250 pounds of extra weight.
If you have the option, move closer to your college or workplace. If you can move close enough you could stop driving altogether and start walking or riding a bike everywhere and save your car for when the weather is bad or for extended trips.
Avoid long warm-ups for your car. Even on cold winter mornings, your car shouldn’t need more than a minute or two to warm up and be ready to go. Anything more and you’re just wasting extra fuel.
One of the easiest things to do is combine errands into one trip and plan an efficient route to where you need to go. Don’t zig-zag across town when you have multiple stops and always try to consolidate your stops as much as you can. You won’t only be saving money on gas, but you’ll also be saving time.
If you are thinking about buying a car soon, try to get a car that gets good gas mileage. For most college students, a hybrid car may be out of their price range but a small car like a Nissan Versa or a Toyota Yaris maybe be the next best thing and with mileage around 30mpg, you should only have to fill up a couple times every month. Also the average insurance cost for these cars are cheaper than bigger cars and trucks.
To get more tips and tricks on how to save fuel, check out Bankrate.com and WikiHow.com.
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Man, I can really relate. I just spent $50 filling up my toyota! It is sad, I guess I’ll be riding the rail or the bus. Perhaps my vehicle in retirement will be a golf cart-electric or fusion powered
Interesting post. Would love to know what others have to say..
I have been hearing about gas saving devices that use water. Do they work?
hypermiling and pump gas in the mornings.
use candles …
Hypermilling is a way to go. Just to make sure beware of certain tips that are not worth a try.